This invention relates to a device for summing sales amount in a vending machine.
In a prior art sales amount summing device for a vending machine, signals representing prices of vended articles are picked up directly from a circuit in the vending machine for a cumulative addition. If the number of articles to be vended is large, the number of the vend price signals to be picked up is also large with a result that wiring becomes extremely complicated. In view of overcoming this drawback, the prior art sales amount summing device is generally incorporated integrally in a changer device of the vending machine so as to avoid the occurrence of confusion due to a large number of long wires for transmitting the vend price signals. Since the summing device needs to be incorporated integrally in the circuit of the changer device, demand for a vending machine with a summing device entails manufacture of a special changer device incorporating a summing device in a process of manufacturing the changer device. Accordingly, if one desired to provide a summing device additionally to an existing changer device which has not such summing device, a cumbersome change in the circuit design of the changer device is required, making addition of the summing device extremely difficult. If, on the other hand, the summing device is initially incorporated in all changer devices, it will entail an unnecessary expense to those users who do not need such summing device.
In a vending machine having a plurality of article dispensing columns (hereinafter referred to as columns), it is desirable to sum up sales amount for each of these columns. For this purpose, two methods have heretofore been proposed.
One of the methods is to provide a counter for the summing purpose in each of the columns, picking up a vend price setting signal, column by column, from the changer device of the vending machine in the above described manner and sum up vend price setting signals for each column in which one or more articles have been vended by a counter corresponding to the column. The other method is to provide a counter for summing the number of vended articles for each of the columns, and obtain sales amount by columns by multiplying the number of the vended articles in each counter with a set vend price for the column stored previously in the summing device. The former method is disadvantageous in that vend price setting signals for the respective columns must be picked up from the circuit in the changer device and supplied to the summing device with resulting complexity in wirings. Further, drawing out of wires for the vend price setting signals for the respective columns sometimes obliges cumbersome change in the circuit in the changer device. If the summing device (i.e. counters for the summing purpose) are initially installed in the changer device for avoiding the later change in the circuit, such changer device incorporating the summing device entails, as described above, increase in the cost which is quite unnecessary for those who do not require such summing device. The latter method obviates the necessity to pick up vend price setting signals for the respective columns from the changer device and supply them to the summing device. The latter method, however, requires provision of a price setting switch or the like device for enabling storage of set vend prices for the respective columns on the side of the summing device with a resulting increase in the case.
Furthermore, the prior art summing device of the type in which vend price setting signals are directly picked up and summed up is incapable of summing up amounts of money collected in the vending machine by denominations. For enabling summing up amounts of money by denominations, it is conceivable to pick up output signals of switches for detecting deposited coins by denominations and signals representative of denominations of coins having been paid out as change from some suitable points in the circuit of the vending machine and add or subtract these signals by denominations. This arrangement, however, complicates wirings for picking up the singals and obliges change of the circuit in the changer device for drawing out wires.